Saturday, February 27, 2010

I have been planning to do this cake for a long time and finally I did it.This is the recipe I came up with....What is this?The name looks like the representation of an alphabet chart. Right ?Well ,A for Apple and B for Banana are really fruits of health and the first fruits kids enjoy from the time they start to eat.So I thought I should start my dessert section with kids in mind even the youngest ones.Also when we think of cake it sounds like a pile of carbs.We can try to reduce that and make it better and healthy.The thought of cake makes us think that it must be made of egg.You are wrong.This is an eggless cake.

Enough talking , let's get into baking this lovely,kid friendly and health friendly cake.This is how it goes

"A B C-----------Z--this is the cake I would like to eat , mommy won't you make it for me"(sing it like an alphabet song).

I call the following ingredients as Enrichment Ingredients because these both ingredients enrich the flavor of the cake---- as chocolate chips are for the sweet tooth as well as for good health and the walnuts are for the healthy brain and heart(everything in moderation is healthy).

Enrichment Ingredients :

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Chocolate Chips..............1/3cup

Walnuts...........................1/3cup

Preparation :

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First , Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

While the oven is preheating, take a large bowl and sift 2cups of wheat flour , baking soda and baking powder together.

In an other bowl take all the wet ingredients and whisk them all together with a hand-mixer.Now add the sugar and whisk it well till they all blend well.

Now add the whisked wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients and mix it well with the hand-mixer and make a nice batter.Now add the chocolate chips and walnuts to the cake batter and fold them in nicely.

While you are you can take help of your kids in getting the baking pan ready.I used muffin pan and a loaf pan to bake.So my 3yr old helped me by lining up the muffin tin with paper cupcake liners and my 6yr old helped by lining the loaf pan with a parchment sheet .

Once my cake batter was ready I filled all the compartments of the muffin pan and poured the remaining batter in a loaf pan.

My oven is preheated ,in goes the muffin tray and the loaf pan.I set the oven timer for 30minutes.The baking has started.After 15 minutes I opened the oven door to check how the process is going on. If you open the oven door during baking process make sure that you increase the oven temperature by 5degrees F(i.e. 355degrees F) for the rest of the 15 minutes.

Once the timer sarted(30 minutes completed) to beep, I checked if the cake in the muffin tray and loaf pan is done or not by priciking it with a tooth pick and the tootht pick came out clean.So I switched off the oven and took the muffin tray and loaf pan out of the oven and let it cool.The cake has puffed up well and looks very yummy and attractive.Once they cool down the muffins and the loaf of cake come out very easily without disturbing the shape.

Finally, the yummy Apple-Banana-Chocolate-----Honey------Walnut-Yogurt-Cake is ready.

Notes :

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1)Kids & Adults can equally enjoy this cake.

2)Just FYI , I wrote all the ingredients in an alphabetical order.

3)This cake is not too sweet, it is just right.(If you want it to taste more sweet like the cakes from the bakeries you can add more sugar.)

4)Nothing in this world is 100% perfect.Same way I feel that a Dessert(as it is a sweet dish it sure has high calories)can't be 100% Healthy---but we can substitute healthy ingredients while making the dessert and make it right.

For example in this recipe, I used healthy ingredients like

1)Wheat Flour(instead of All Purpose Flour)

2)Canola Oil(instead of Butter)

3)Yogurt(instead of Eggs)

4)Honey(to lessen the usage of sugar)

5)Walnuts( for good heart & brain health )

6)Banana( rich in phosphorous)

7)Apple Sauce(not only a comfort food but also protects against breast cancer)

8)Chocolate Chips(are very rich in copper,magnesium,calcium and minerals---only if taken in moderation)

So all in all we have made ourselves a healthy cake.We can eat a piece for morning breakfast too.(You can serve this with ice-cream or with caramel sauce.Use your imagination there are many possible ways)You know we are trying to keep it healthy.So enjoy it just by itself.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

This recipe is for all the newbies in kitchen so that they don't have to worry too much about what to do next.Kind of one-pot dish.

Tomato and Cucumbers are a world-wide favorite.First,I started out to make daal with tomato but I saw that there was half a cucumber in the fridge and added that too.Hence the Tomato-Cucumber Daal recipe.This is a very simple and easy recipe.

Traditionally vegetables and daals(pulses/legumes) are cooked separately and then finally combined and seasoning is added ,that gives us an authentic feel and taste.Well , I am going to break the tradition a bit here and try to speed up the things a little bit as time is a factor these days.Enough talking let's start the recipe.

Take toor daal in a steel vessel that can fit in a pressure cooker and rinse it very well till the water is clear.Now soak the daal in water for 15 minutes.Meanwhile let us prep the vegetables.Wash the tomatoes,cucumber,chillies,curry leaves and cilantro.Dice the tomatoes and de-skinned cucumber into small cubes.Slit the chillies and keep them aside.

Now drain the water from the soaked toor daal and add 3cups of water,diced tomato,cucumber and slit chillies to the toor daal.Now to this mix add the turmeric,tamarind and required amount of salt.Once everything is put in the vessel, take the vessel and place it in the pressure cooker and on medium heat cook it for 6 whistles.

Once the pressure in the cooker is down take the vessel with the cooked daal out and place it aside.In a pan add the oil and ghee and once it heats up add mustard seeds,cumin seeds,red chilli,asafoetida(instead of asafoetida you can use chopped garlic in the seasoning) and curry leaves.Once the seasoning is ready add it to the tomato-cucumber daal mixture and let the daal boil for 5 more minutes so that all the flavors blend well.

Switch off the stove and pour the daal into a serving container and garnish with some cilantro.
This daal goes very well with rotis,chapatis,pulkas and hot rice.

Note :
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1)It is always said that when you add salt and tamarind in the daal and try to pressure cook, the daal will not be cooked.I disagree with this, as when I am short of time I place all the ingredients together and pressure cook for 6 whistles and the daal is very well done.

2)To make it a one pot dish I take a small pressure pan ,first I add the oil and seasoning then I place the water,daal,vegetables,turmeric,salt and tamarind.Close the lid and cook for 6 whistles.Ta-Da the entire dish is ready to serve .

3)Some might like to add onions to this dish.You may do so but sweetness of onion will dominate the flavors of tomato and cucumber.

4)I added only 2tsp of tamarind pulp in the daal so that the original flavors of the vegetables are not compromised.If you want it more sour add 2 more spoons of tamarind pulp.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Eggplant/Brinjal/Aubergine is called as the KING of vegetables.In the state of AndhraPradesh brinjal is cooked in various ways.It is given a special place in the food plate of every household.Guttivankaya is a very famous dish of AndhraPradesh.For every special occassion a dish of brinjal has to be made, that is the kind of royal place given to this vegetable.

I will be posting a lot of recipes with Eggplant in the near future.Today we are going to try a new recipe.This eggplant curry is made in combination with ginger and chilli.It is a very simple recipe with extraordinary taste.This recipe has always been a favorite of my family for generations.The eggplant used in this recipe are the purple long slender variety.

Main Ingredients:

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Eggplant/Brinjal.............4(long purple variety)

Ginger..........................2inch

Green Chillies................4

Cilantro........................few leaves(optional)

Salt..............................to taste

Oil...............................1tbsp

Preparation :

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First wash the eggplants,ginger,chilly , and keep them aside.Fill a bowl with water and add some salt to it.

Take the eggplant cut them into thin long pieces and place them in the bowl of salt water so that eggplant pieces don't turn brown.

Now take a skillet and put it on medium setting on the stove and add oil and wait for it to heat up.Take the eggplant pieces from the water and place them in the skillet.Add salt to the eggplant and give it a nice stir and cover the skillet with a lid and let cook for 2 minutes.Once again take the lid off stir the eggplant and place the lid back and let cook.

Meanwhile in mini chopper or in a mortar & pestle make a chunky paste of the ginger and chilly.

Now take off the lid from the skillet and add the ginger-chilly paste to eggplant pieces and give it a stir and place the lid back and let cook for 5 more minutes and the dish is ready to serve.

This recipe goes well with hot rice,chapathis,pulkas or parathas.

Note:

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1) Any guest who visited my grandparent's house always wanted my grandmom to prepare this dish for sure. She always cooked with fresh eggplants from their farm so they tasted more yummy.

2) Also grandma used to add home-made butter in the end to enhance the flavor of this curry.Well these days as we are diet-conscious and also do not have stamina to digest fat-rich foods,I omitted the butter part.

Allergies:

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Well being a KING is not easy.The KING always has to face the complements and criticisations equally.Same way our KING vegetable Eggplant has it's own positives and negatives.

Pros : Makes cooking very interesting and moulds itself into every recipe we make and results in a very tasty and lovely dish.

Cons : An Eggplant can sometimes cause allergic reactions to people.So people with allergies please check before you eat .

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sambar is a very famous and common South Indian recipe.Sambar powder is very commonly used in all South Indian homes.Every household in South India has it's own variation for this recipe while the end result is yummy-tasty sambar.

This is one of my mom's recipes.My mom always makes sambar with fresh ingredients but when I was coming to USA for the first time, she made the sambar powder and gave it to me as we did not know if all the required ingredients were available here(USA).I should tell you that I have lived in the USof A for the last 10yrs and never bought any sambar powder from a store.The credit goes to my mom because she used to make the sambar powder when she visited and I would store it for at least an year or two in the freezer.For the last few years I started making it myself and store it for an year .

Heat oil in the skillet and add the chanadaal, urad daal ,red chillies, coriander seeds, black pepper, methi seeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds one after the other and coat them with the oil and roast these ingredients until they turn golden brown.Once they are roasted transfer them into a plate and let it cool.After it is cooled powder it in the grinder and add enough salt according to your taste.

Now the sambar powder is ready for storage.This powder has longer shelf life and also you can store it in freezer for years.

Note:
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1)We use very less oil in roasting the ingredients just enough to coat them.
2)If you store the powder in the freezer immediately after making it you can feel the fresh taste of the powder every time you make sambar even after an year of making it.

Friday, February 19, 2010

This is a very heart healthy,fibrous dish.Spinach,Cranberries and BottleGourd make a tasty ,nutritious and pretty combination for a sambar.You can call this a soup too as you can eat it just by itself.It's a complete dish on it's own.

Preparation:
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Rinse the toor daal very well and let soak for 30 minutes.

While the daal is soaking ,take spinach and rinse it well and chop it and keep it aside.

Peel the bottle gourd and cut into small cubes.Now take fresh cranberries and wash them and keep aside,also take 2 small green chillies and slit them open(deseed if you don't like it spicy).

Take a steel vessel that can be placed in the pressure cooker and fill it with the soaked toor daal,chopped spinach,cubed bottle gourd,cranberries,greenchillies and also add 1tsp turmeric to them.Now add 4cups of water and place the vessel in the pressure cooker and cook for 3 whistles.

While the pressure in the cooker is settling down, take a pan for seasoning.Add ghee/oil to the pan,once it is hot add mustard seeds,cumin seeds,asafoetida,chopped garlic,red chilli and curry leaves.

Now open the pressure cooker and take out the vessel with the main ingredients and add the fried seasoning sambar powder and salt(as per your taste).Give it a nice stir and let the sambar simmer on the stove for 15 more minutes so that all the ingredients mix well.

Finally pour the smabar into a serving dish and it is ready to serve with hot rice or roti.

Note:
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1)This sambar can be served as a mian dish too.You can serve it as a soup.
2)We do not add tamarind to this recipe as cranberries give the sour taste to the sambar.
3)You can add onion to this recipe if you like(onion adds sweetness to the dish).

This sambar is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals and one more heart-healthy dish.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

This is the first recipe I submitted to an Event after I started blogging in Feb 2010.I submitted this recipe to the MLLA #20 a monthly event guest hosted by The Crispy Cook and originally started by The WellSeasoned Cook.I am very happy to know that I was pronounced the winner of this event http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com/ today March1st 2010.

This is a rasam with no rasam powder in it.This sounds crazy right.I call this as rasam because it is liquidy.My family liked this recipe and I believe you would like it too.Try it and let me know.

Preparation :
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Take a cup of chana daal and rinse it well and pressure cook with 2 cups of water for 2 whistles.

Daal should not be mashed completely.Mean while get 2 cups of tamarind juice ready.

Once the pressure is off take the daal out from the cooker and keep it aside.

Now take a pan and heat it up with 1 tbsp of oil and add mustard,cumin,red chilli,turmeric,bay leaf and cinnamon stick in an order.

Once the seasoning is ready add ginger garlic paste to the seasoning and fry for 2 minutes.

Now add the tamarind juice to the pan and once it starts boiling add cooked chana daal with water to the boiling tamarind juice and nicely give a good stir to the entire mix.

Now add salt as per your taste and finally add sugar or jaggery to the chana daal rasam and let cook for 20 more minutes.

Finally ,take it into a serving bowl and garnish it with cilantro.
Tasty Khatta Meetha ChanaDaal Rasam is ready.This dish tastes good with rice.

Note : If you are using thick tamarind concentrate then use just 1cup ,if you are using tamarind juice(if it is thin consistency) use 2 cups.You can adjust sugar,tamarind and salt as per your taste too.If you want the rasam to be thinner consistency you can add more water.

Copyright Policy

Unless otherwise noted, Sumadhura is the legal copyright holder of all the written material and pictures posted in this blog .The content here may not be used , reprinted or published without the written consent of the author. All the recipes posted here are made according to the tastes of my family and the measures used in the recipes here are approximate.